Aunty Acid by Ged Backland for September 30, 2021

But they have to go outside.

I’ve noticed that, too.

You get time off for your funeral too!

The nurses who smoked went on many more breaks than nonsmokers. It irked me.

Given that they will probably live many years less than you, let them "enjoy"themselves for now, Aunty!

I remember telling my boss I was going of a smoke break and my boss saying “You don’t smoke” I would just say “So?”

one of the rare times i’m in complete agreement with auntie…

There are also coffee breaks.

In Seattle, coffee is almost a religion. When people apply for work with a company, they ask what kind of coffee they have before asking about salaries or benefits.

A company I worked for had a very good brand of coffee in their break room. Our software coders would grab a cup and go back to their desk to work.

The company got bought out by a big company headquartered in Islandia New York (I won’t mention the name, but the initials are CA). and the new owners contracted with a company that supplies coffee to the airlines. Most of you do not have to imagine the quality of that coffee: Starbucks it isn’t. Also the company prohibited people from eating or drinking at their desks.

The new contract saved the company $650 a year over the previous coffee budget.

Now the coders (the few that didn’t quit) would gather in a big group twice a day and go downstairs for a cup of coffee. They would be gone at least a half an hour each time.

But the $650 showed up on someone’s spreadsheet and got them a bonus, I am sure.

I never could see the difference between long personal phone calls and smoke breaks. The smokers got more work done. I took what seemed like frequent bathroom breaks but that is normal for diabetics.

“Police Call” in the military is picking up litter. I always had the opinion that only smokers should be required to do it because almost all the litter was cigarette butts.

They can gloat about it while they’re coughing, hacking, wheezing and suffering other tobacco-related illnesses (I say this as a former smoker).

Years ago, when smoking indoors just about anywhere anywhere was legal, Nurses were notorious for it. The one with the butt didn’t have to answer the call light. EVERYbody smoked.

I smoke and watch non smokers taking hourly extended breaks while most of us smokers follow the rules.

that must be a very lenient company to work for. any smoking where i worked had to be done on your breaks or lunchtime.

I worked on a crew of two, where my helper was a smoker. Never around when I needed him. I told my boss whenever he went out to smoke, I was going to stop what I was doing and wait until he came back. My boss hated that idea…

No, Aunty. The two breaks you’re entitled to are used up by the smoke breaks, so you’re doing yourself a disservice. Maybe…

Where I worked there was one guy that smoked. When he went on a smoke break we all went with him. We got our work done and no one cared. It help that our boss was in a different building across town.

I got gypped, I only took 8 per day.

That is SO true!!!

True story. Working at a restaurant, servers who only worked 4-5 hours would spend more time on break than me, there 14-16 hours… and the moment I tried to just sit for a few minutes before cleaning up for close, I’d have managers yelling at me.

it’s like they feel entitled to take more time because they have to go outside. OTOH, when they are outside their tobacco stench mixed with too much perfume/mints/gum to cover the stench is gone.

What happened to I should be working, after all, I am getting paid to work not stand around smoking.

Years ago, I started a new job the same day as another woman. We were both non-smokers. She openly carried a pack of cigarettes and advised I do the same so we could take all the breaks we wanted to, instead of staying in and covering for all the cigarette smokers. She was a wise woman.

At the least! At my work, one guy smokes with people on the east part of the building. Then, you can see him smoking with people on the west end of the building.

I knew someone who used to just keep a pack of cigarettes in her desk and would grab it and go out whenever the Smoke Breakers did. She didn’t smoke, so the pack of Ciggies never got Opened.

But, she could “Take a Smoke Break” with the best of them.

When I did commercial cleaning I cleaned an Ames Department Store and we cleaned in the morning before open time and the stockers worked same shift and when they had their break the smokers stayed out there for at least half an hour instead of their 15 minutes so the non smokers stayed in the break room until the smokers came back in because they said it wasn’t fair that they would go back to work after 15 minute break but smokers took twice as long a break. The stocking crew manager always reminded the smokers they only had 15 minutes but they never paid attention so she gave up and told non smokers to take the same amount of break as smokers.